Syria Has Replaced the 600 Tanks Israel Destroyed or Captured

October 28, 1982

TEL AVIV (Oct. 27)

Syria has replaced the 400 tanks destroyed by Israel and the 200 captured during the war in Lebanon from reserve tanks they had held in emergency stores, according to Maj. Gen. Moshe Bar-Kochba, commander of the armored corps.

In an address today on Israel Radio, on the occasion of Tank Day tomorrow, he said that more than 900 of the Syrian tanks of a total of some 1,400 are now stationed in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon, an area which the Syrians consider essential to their national defense.

Bar-Kochba expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Israeli-designed and built Merkava tank. He said additional funds should be spent on its local production rather than using the same amount of money for the purchase of tanks abroad.